4 Reminders You Need to Accomplish Big Goals.
How I switched careers, and jobs (twice) in a pandemic.
On a lovely post-Thanksgiving day, I sat in my back yard, sun beaming, birds chirping, feet up in all black jumpsuit listening to Bicycle by Frank Ocean.
I thought about 2020 and how that year brought so much confusion, pain, and introspection. I was reminded of all the times I questioned my career choice, worth, and self. In that same moment, Frank Ocean reminded me of a simple truth:
“God gives you what you can handle.”
Pre-COVID, I decided I was going to quit my job and take the necessary steps to solidify my career in project management. It was something I talked about with my friends for YEARS, but always found an excuse to not fully commit. After reading More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth, I was filled with confirmation that the time was now and I’m capable of accomplishing the impossible. I mean, I’ve done it before. Replication is easier the second time around, right? (Insert a visual of me talking to myself in ATX airport before I sent my resignation letter) Well, not in March 2020.
Two days after passing my project management certification, which was truly an act of God, the world shut down. Everything changed in an instant. I couldn’t even purchase the basic necessities at my beloved Target. The shelves and my spirit were looking very empty. Did I just make a mistake? Was I out of my rabbit (insert word I can’t say) mind?
I had all the tools and resources necessary to obtain my dreams; I just had to shift to an abundance mindset by:
- Believing I was capable of obtaining my goal
- Putting myself in position to reach the goal
- Working for the goal
Here’s 4 reminders for accomplishing BIG, audacious goals:
Change how you refer to yourself.
Instead of telling people, “I’m trying to get into project management.” I would let them know, “I am a project manager.” This helped a lot when I was doing interviews and conveying how my previous experience aligned with the role. By all means, have the data to back up your story, but change the way you talk about yourself and your experience. Nobody will believe it if you don’t.
You always win when you bet on yourself. Take the leap.
Redirect your time.
Since outside was closed, I had a lot of free time to make important things important things. This meant looking at how I was spending my time and deleting ALL distractions (not some, but all.). I left the team that I loved, but the role I didn’t, so I could dedicate consistent hours towards a certification that would increase my market value. I deleted my social media accounts off my phone. And when I tried to cheat my own system and redownload the Instagram app, I muted the 500 people that I was following so my timeline would come up empty and I would have to log off. #KnowYourself
Change your actions if you want to change your direction.
Focus on your skills.
Pre-COVID I made a decision to level up my portfolio. I took new headshots, hired a professional resume writer (I highly recommended this if your resume/LinkedIn is not generating the results you want), and focused on building professional skills around the things that gave me energy: project management. (Stay tuned for my article on finding your purpose.)
This realignment led me to cofounding a startup, getting a professional certification, contracting at a tech company, and working full-time role at another tech company in spaces I didn’t have direct experience in. Yes, you read that correctly. In 1 year I was offered multiple opportunities in spaces I didn’t have experience in. Why? I became very good at learning skills that would increase my long-term value. Then, I became very good at communicating my experience with those skills. (See Point 1: Change how you refer to yourself)
If you don’t have what they are looking for, learn it.
Lean into your community.
When I found out that my project manager role was not a “side project”, but a company-wide initiative led by our VP and Director, I started to question my value. Was I in over my head? Did I just play myself into thinking I could make it at a big tech firm?… Nope! My internal dialogue was inaccurate, but normal.
In the pandemic I built a close group that provided me the emotional and physical support I needed to get my head back in the game. When I had to put metrics together for this initiative (something I never did at this magnitude), I asked one of my friends how he went about setting up long-term goals and metrics in an unstructured environment. He shared some tried and true resources with me and I got to work. (I live for a good template!)
My leadership team was so impressed with how I executed that initiative that I later became the point of contact for other teams starting similar initiatives throughout the org.
Big transitions can lead to imposter syndrome. Ask for help early and often.
There were countless times when I questioned if I could handle the big, audacious goals I asked God for, but there were more times when He reminded me that I could.
If you are reading this article, this is your sign. In the back of your mind, or maybe in the front, you have an audacious goal that you keep close to your chest. I’m letting you know that you CAN do it, it IS yours, and there ARE people rooting for you.
Don’t count yourself out before someone else can count you in.
Position yourself for those BIG, doesn’t-make-sense-to-anybody-but-you goals. If your spirit is leading you to take the job, get the degree, or start the business, listen. So when the doesn’t-make-sense-to-anybody-but-you opportunity comes up, you can can say with confidence…
